Our Last *New* Surroundings for this Trip

Can you believe that we are in our last city of our almost year long trip in Europe?  Bobby and I were talking today about how much time and effort we had devoted to preparing and planning for this trip.  Selling our house, selling our stuff, planning the cities, booking the apartments has all taken a good amount of our time.  It is crazy that all for what we have prepared and planned is almost over.  However, I guess it is not really over as we still have an open book as to what our future will hold. 

"We have learned a lot" is really an understatement, but it is so true.  Even as we settle into this new city we are reminded about how far we have come since we first started arrived to Paris.  Croatia is certainly the most foreign country we have lived in as the language is very difficult to decipher.   We have settled in nicely to our new home.  We love the area as we are living within the walls of 1700 year old palace ruins.  The harbor is extremely close allowing for pleasant walks along the Riva.  We have easily accessible grocers nearby as well as fresh markets too.  There are truly beautiful views everywhere we look it seems!

Houses built upon the rocks.

Bell tower of the cathedral of Saint Domnius.
The bell tower is the city's main symbol and can be seen in many of our pictures.
The bell tower was built in 1100 AD. 

This 24-hour clock was added in the 14th century on the west wall of the palace on the already existing church, Our Lady of the Bell.

One of the first things we do as we settle into a new area is check out the nearby playgrounds to determine which one(s) will be the best to frequent.  There are not many playgrounds in our area.  There is one near the beach and another on the opposite side near the harbor.  We frequent the one that allows us to walk along the water near the harbor.  We have not done very many touristy activities as we are pacing ourselves with the ending of the school semester.  We will have some time off for Thanksgiving Break as well as Winter Break that will allow us to have plenty of time to explore the area.

The playground is dinosaur themed.  The tail of the dinosaur makes me nervous as Liam climbs, but so far my rock climbing spotting skills have saved his life a couple of times. ;)

Amelie and Liam loving the see-saw action.  I am sad to admit that my quads have been sore from all the action....

As I mentioned before, we enjoy walking on the Riva.   One of our favorite things to do on the Riva is to purchase fritules with chocolate to share.

The street from our house to the Riva.  You can see the sea in the distance.  We live in Old Town which means that the streets are pedestrian only...so fun when you have little ones that want to walk everywhere!

Eating a snack while watching the sun set.  A good late afternoon stroll!

We like walking through the streets at night.  It reminds us a lot of Venice!

Our apartment is very nice and suits us well. We have available to us the essentials: coffee maker, washing machine, dishwasher (listed in order of importance...haha!).  We have a dishwasher again which has been amazing!  The kids room is upstairs while the rest of the living area is on the main floor.  Although I hit my head constantly on the slanted ceiling, it is really a nice large open space that allows for good play time.  Since it is above our living room, I do not have to worry about the running and jumping for neighbors underneath. 

Amelie reading to Liam in the living room.

Amelie counting how many days left until we head to the States on her count-down calendar posted on the refrigerator.

Amelie and Liam's messy bedroom.  Liam is pointing out his bed.  It's a large pack-n-play type bed. He can climb in and out which is why we keep it up against Amelie's bed.  She also loves having the little table for her art work.

Eating breakfast.  I love the view of our patio and neighboring stone buildings.

Liam has recently said that he wants to go to a "normal house."  When I ask him what is a "normal house" he says, "I don't know."  I am so thankful that they have been able to feel right at home wherever we have parked ourselves.  I guess this could serve as a warning with Christmas approaching and visiting.  We also might have to shop from now on at IKEA to feel at home as most of our furnishings have been from IKEA. ;)  I am glad that we ended up in Split, Croatia.  It's a great city on which to end this trip.